Does Unum handle your short-term disability claims? If your answer is yes, you may be in for a rude awakening. Thousands of people in the U.S. depend on Unum for insurance coverage if they have disabilities. You should know this insurance behemoth is under scrutiny for the growing number of disability claims they deny as well as the circumstances surrounding those denials. If your Unum short-term disability claim was denied, contact CJ Henry Law Firm today.
If you pull out your disability policy and it doesn’t say Unum, don’t breathe a sigh of relief yet. Unum is the corporate parent for Provident, the Colonial Companies, and Paul Revere Life.
There are more than 17 million people in America covered by Unum disability insurance and some of the company’s unsavory practices could fool the savviest of con men. Here are a few of the tactics commonly employed by the company to deny claims and refuse benefits. Read this information carefully.
We’re all guilty of not reading the fine print on contracts. We assume a company will play fair, or that we’ll never have to worry about using a policy. When it comes to the fine print on your Unum short-term disability policy, the failure to read the fine print could be a costly error. Unum policyholders have alleged that the company changed the terms of their plans after they were issued and their benefits denied as a result.
Like all industries, there are accepted best practices in the insurance industry for investigating disability claims. For Unum customers, the company’s practices are all but the best. They routinely disregard the conclusions made by the policyholder’s physician, and they also stack the deck to support the findings they want to see. If Unum doesn’t get the answer they want to hear; they keep asking the questions until they get the answer they want to hear. The result is confusing files filled with unnecessary paperwork.
If a flood of paperwork doesn’t do the claim denial trick, bouncing the claim from one claims agent to another to drag out its review could result in the denial of legitimate claims. Another outcome could be the claimant is eventually worn down and finally gives up. Families and individuals can be devastated by these practices.
Policyholders lucky enough to have their claims approved and begin to receive benefits may not be out of the woods. In the past, Unum has stopped benefits without any proper justification. An unexpected insurance termination letter is not a pleasant surprise.
Unum’s tactics aren’t confined to its employees. The company uses a roster of medical experts who routinely find in favor of the insurance company and against claimants. It’s true that an insurance company has the right to require policyholders to visit a third-party doctor, but the independent third party should truly be impartial and deliver an unbiased determination. Assigning cases to a list of preferred medical experts ensures the company will come out on top in the claim denial game.
Despite its attempts to hoodwink policyholders, time is running out for Unum insurance and its questionable practices. In addition to complaints from individuals, state insurance regulators and the federal government have their eyes on Unum and its claim management practices. They’ve lost significant legal decisions and are currently the defendants in several class action lawsuits related to these practices.
If you filed a complaint and are offered a settlement by Unum, proceed with caution. Remember, the goal of any business is to make money. Consider the following implications and seek legal advice before you agree to any settlement.
At CJ Henry Law Firm, we have a unique combination of both experience and knowledge to help our clients. We can help you resolve your Unum short-term disability claim. Contact us today.
